But he knows time is running out and, unless a new owner is found within the next couple of weeks, his efforts to try to stave off relegation will be futile.

Appleton also fears some of his leading players will soon be on their way out to further slash the wage bill, even though he is already struggling to fill his substitutes’ bench for each game.

Appleton said: “I will be very surprised if there has ever been a football club in the country that has been in the position we are in right now.

“It is not about being bleak, it is about being straight, and I can’t make it straighter than that.

It is not about being bleak, it is about being straight, and I can’t make it straighter than that

Michael Appleton

“It is the situation where if something doesn’t get done very quickly, we won’t have a football club. It is as simple as that.”

Appleton has had discussions with administrator Trevor Birch, saying: “When Trevor walked through the door I asked him to be completely honest with me, however bad.”

“Somewhere between now and the end of April something needs to be done, sooner rather than later. We are not trying to scare people into making a quick decision, these are the facts. We have got a small pot of cash and it’s running out very, very quickly. If we don’t do anything about it then the worst-case scenario will happen.”

Portsmouth appear no nearer to finding a new owner, have already been docked 10 points for going into administration and are in the relegation mire.

Unless the financial position changes within the next few days, relegation will not be an issue because there will be no club to relegate.

Appleton suffered another hammer blow last night when skipper Liam Lawrence reluctantly joined Cardiff on loan until the end of the season.

Lawrence said: “I’m really sad to be leaving Pompey behind, but if my move can help the club carry on then it’s something I’m willing to do.”

Birch has moved to clarify comments he made about the club’s parachute payments from the Premier League being paid to former owner Alexandre Gaydamak.

Birch said Gaydamak was assigned £2.2million of parachute payments to satisfy part of his debt, with him set to receive the next four instalments.

But Birch confirmed the Premier League “is not a part of any agreement to pay money to a third party.

“The league is not withholding any funds due to Portsmouth and I regret any misunderstanding this may have caused.”